How to Achieve a Million Dollar Smile
Today’s modern dentistry has a vast array of options to correct the misalignment of teeth, camouflage discoloration and whiten them, cover chips and cracks and generally beautify your smile. A cosmetic dentist will be able to offer you all the various options, work out a treatment plan and then get to work on completely changing the look of your teeth.
Most of these treatments will take some time to complete, which means a few visits to the dentist, but the final outcome will be well worth your time. Additionally, with the exception of tooth whitening, these procedures are quite expensive because of the time the dentist will need to take to achieve the perfect result and because the most modern materials are extremely expense. For example, bridges and crowns may be made out of composites which include cubic zirconia powder, which not only strengthens them, but creates a luminous and natural color to exactly match that of your natural teeth.
Before you embark on such a large scale and expensive make over, you should first pay a visit to your family dentist who will take full mouth X-rays (or send you for a panoramic X-ray of both your upper and lower jaws) and do a general check up to see if there are any issues to be addressed which he is able to undertake, such as the replacement of old and unsightly amalgam fillings with the new and equally strong composites on the market today.
He will also check to see that your gums are healthy, as diseased gums must be treated before any major reconstruction work can begin. If there are issues with your gums, such as bleeding or pockets, he will most likely refer you to a periodontics that will be able to correct the problem and teach you how to correctly manage your dental hygiene to reduce the chances of these problems recurring. Thereafter, you will need to visit a dental hygienist on a regular six monthly basis to keep up the cleanliness regime and to remove any plaque which may build up. Do not underestimate the part healthy gums play in your mouth, as diseased or receding gums and pockets result in the loosening – and eventual loss – of teeth.
Your cosmetic dentist will now be able to assess what work need to be done and offer you the best solutions. These may include bridges with a dummy tooth or teeth to fill spaces left where a tooth has been extracted, or where no tooth ever erupted. Another alternative to cover gaps is to consider an implant, which involves the insertion into the jaw bone of a special metal receptor followed some time later, when the bone has healed and rejection has been eliminated, with a false tooth being screwed into it. There are pros and cons for both these options. When building a bridge, the dentist will need to prepare the teeth on either side of the gap to accept the bridge, which is glued (with a special dental bonding adhesive) into place. This is not the most conservative of dentistry, as it may involve the drilling of healthy teeth, but implants have the disadvantage of needing quite a lot of healthy bone and they may be rejected.
The above is but a short description of the many options available, so make an appointment to consult a cosmetic dentist and be on your way to a having a million dollar smile.